Red Wings boast seven prospects competing in World Junior Championship

DETROIT -- As the Detroit Red Wings begin preparing to start the new NHL season on January 14, several aspiring Red Wings are preparing to display their talent on the global stage in the IIHF World Junior Championship, which starts Friday in Edmonton, Alberta.

Detroit boasts the second-most NHL player representatives in this year's World Junior Championship with seven Wings prospects representing three countries in the under-20 tournament.
Red Wings representatives for Team Sweden include 2020 No. 4 overall pick Lucas Raymond, 2020 second-round pick Theodor Niederbach, 2019 second-round pick Albert Johansson and 2019 sixth-round picks Elmer Soderblom and Gustav Berglund, while 2020 third-round pick Eemil Viro will represent Team Finland and 2020 fourth-round pick Jan Bednar will suit up for Team Czech Republic.
Wings assistant general manager Ryan Martin is currently in Edmonton as a player personnel volunteer for Team USA, and Martin said having so many Detroit prospects be selected to represent their countries on the world stage shows how bright the future can be in Hockeytown.
"It's a testament to our amateur scouting department and the player development group," Martin said to Carley Johnston during an episode of The Word on Woodward last week. "We've got five guys on Sweden's roster. The five guys are players that we've picked in the last two drafts. It's a testament to the group that's drafted these guys. We're really excited to have these players in this tournament. It's great competition, great experience for their development."
Martin said the World Junior Championship is the most competitive tournament in the world for players under the age of 20.

"For (those) that don't know, the World Junior Tournament, in my opinion, is the best under-20 tournament in the world," the Wings' assistant GM said. "It's best-on-best competition. It's an incredibly competitive tournament with lots of players that even have NHL experience all the way down to high-end juniors."
While many North American players have had extended pauses in their offseason regimens due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin noted that most European prospects have been able to continue their training almost uninterrupted, allowing them to develop and get a jumpstart on preparation for the World Junior Championship.
"A lot of these (European) guys have had very few interruptions in their season dating back to when their training camps opened in the late summer, early fall," Martin said. "They've had some delays, but for the most part, a lot of the European leagues have been pretty consistent in getting their games back up and running, dedicating time to practice and (for) development.
"For the European players, I don't think there's been as much of an impact in terms of development, but the opportunity to play in this tournament regardless of what the players have been doing for the fall, it's great experience."
The World Junior Championship begins Christmas Day with Switzerland facing off against Slovakia. Other competing countries in Group A include Canada, Finland and Germany, while the USA, Sweden, Czech Republic, Russia and Austria round out Group B. Team USA will begin its tournament on Friday against Russia.
Group play continues through New Year's Eve, with the quarterfinals set for January 2 and the championship game set for January 5. Team Canada is the defending tournament champion, while Team USA last earned a gold medal in 2017.